FKA Twigs has been happy to leave her school life "in the past".
The 34-year-old music star refers to herself as a "bursary kid", having got a scholarship to go to a Catholic private school in England - but she admits that her time at school was far from easy.
Asked if she's kept in touch with her school friends, the singer - who has an English mother and a Jamaican dad - shared: "There’s no beef with anyone. But at the same time, with love, I need to leave that in the past.
"Making fun of my hair or telling me that it’s greasy, or that it smells funny, because I’ve put a product in it - that’s racist. And that was even some of my best friends. It made it really hard for me. I didn’t feel like I could be myself."
The musician - whose real name is Tahliah Barnett - acknowledges that life can be extremely tough for black women in the industry.
However, she's wiling to work as hard as it takes in order to realise her dreams.
She told the Guardian newspaper: "If the colour of my skin means that I have to try harder, you know what, I don’t care. I’ll do it. Every single time. I’ll do it till I’m blue in the face. Because that’s my purpose. It’s not always fair. But, guess what? Life’s not fair."
Twigs has connected with her Caribbean heritage by making regular trips to Jamaica.
She also admitted to being inspired by her grandparents, who are now in their 90s and live in Caribbean.
Twigs explained: "They’re still together and they’ve got this cheeky romance.
"There’s a romance to Caribbean culture that people don’t always think of initially. You can go out to a West Indian club and you can dance with someone for a song and it can be so intimate and amazing. In that moment, you’re lovers. It means everything, but it means nothing."
